NE buttress on Higher Cathedral Rock. 3.5 hours to the halfway point, thinking we were gonna cruise it, then the real climbing started. I was so trashed by the end that I had to prussik up the rope to get past the final 5.9 OW.

October ascent of Northeast Buttress on HCR in 1989 - had to bivy 2/3 the way up when ran out of daylight (in middle of sleepless night saw a car stop near mine - when got back down there was a note from the ranger saying "call your wife - she is worried").

Higher Cathedral Spire- Regular Route (6.10.'11)
Did with Faith. After doing the obligatory, undesirable approach, geared up at the base. 2 assholes jumped in front of us while getting ready ('We want to do a couple routes today. Can we get ahead (in parentheses: 'We don't really care if you like it or not')? Weren't as fast as they thought (couldn't pass the Tyroleans who'd already started), & I guess getting up early to avoid the crowds on a popular climb wasn't obvious enough. Oh well- whatever.

At any rate, a phenomenal, justly-classic route. I have a hard time thinking of a team doing this back in the 30s!! While we freed it, the light years that modern equipment/technology/methods are ahead of what was around then is hard to fathom... Climbing was great, though- sustained, solid Valley 5.9, & the summit is hard to beat! Superb views from up top too.

Middle Cathedral, Kor-Beck
Did this with Rusty. Got a late start (14.00ish) after a leisurely beginning of the day. Enjoyable climb the whole way. We only did the first 6(?) pitches, the standard, I guess. Got back to the base in the dark, but we managed to get to the Village store JUST in time to get beer, so it was a great success!

Higher Cathedral Rock, Braille Book (Junish, 2010)
Another one with Rob. Thought we were screwed when we heard voices ahead of us near the base of the route. We blasted up along the base, though, while the competition wallowed through the underbrush, & we snaked 'em. Great success!! Behind another party, but not a big deal. After me taking forever to finally sack up to get past the psychological crux on P1, the rest went smoothly. Some old-school Valley 5.'8' for sure! Great climbing though, & another awesome day in The Valley.

Higher Cathedral Rock- NE buttress
With Rob again. Started the route at a relatively late 9.38. After the obligatory rock-paper-scissors, Rob got odd pitches, I even. First few pitches went great, & left us totally unprepared for what lay ahead... This climb is a burly, old-school Yo-f$%*ing-semite climb, & will spank you & make you grovel if you aren't on your off-width/chimney game. Nonetheless, it is an utter classic, & should not be missed... Incredibly sustained, consistently strenuous climbing, incredible views on the way up & on the top (we tagged the true summit). Headlamps on El Cap (esp. the line up The Nose) was cool, descent in the dark interesting. Beer upon return was well-earned! The 2 guys we met at the start as well as upon our return (back at their car) from LA who'd just done the DNB were cool- thanks for your hospitality! :) Another great day in The Valley!!

Middle Cathedral- E Buttress
Climbed with Rob. What a great climb! As it sprinkled on our drive in from outside the park, I was a bit apprehensive, but it ended up working out great. We could barely see anything down the Valley, as views were obscured by smoke from forest fires. That, added to the fact that we were the only ones on the route that day, & it was November, made for a surreal day of climbing. Being pretty out of it (in the middle of a case of the flu), I took a short fall while leading the "5.8" section (seemed stiff for a 5.8) right below the 2 fixed pins on P3. Had a few minor slips on stuff I'd normally feel fine about too. Anyway, led the 5.9 roof free & w/o incident, which was nice. Rob did a great job of leading all his pitches. I led Ps 2-3 (combined), 5 (aided bolt ladder), 7, 9, & 11.

Started descent down the gully shortly before twilight, got back to the truck in the dark- glad we didn't go for the true summit. Descent back to the Katwalk & from there to the start of the gully would have been impossible! All in all a great day!

With Darko, Warren and Tom.
Amazingly our party of four ended up in a drag race to the base of the route with... another party of four. Darko managed to find the start and we got on first. The only rough patch was a rope snag after Darko led the first pitch. Started climbing at 9am and topped out at 1:15ish. Beautiful fall weather and awesome views of the fall folliage.